Inside Story: Norway ~ TED
Stopped at the Airport
By Glenn Ernford Lie
Only one question will be asked on Judgment Day. I heard it when my international flight landed in Portland in the U.S. state of Oregon.
The U.S. immigration officer glanced at my Norwegian passport and then up at me at Portland International Airport. “What are your plans?” he asked.
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“I am visiting a friend”, I replied.
“What is the address?” he said.
“I don’t know”, I said. “But she is going to meet me here at the airport”.
The immigration officer didn’t look pleased that I didn’t know the address.
“So, where did you meet her?” he said.
“At a college outside London”.
“What did you study there?”
“Theology”.
The immigration officer studied my face.
“Are you a believer?” he said.
“Yes”.
He looked down at my passport in his hand and then back at me.
“So, why are you saved?” he said.
The answer tumbled out of my mouth.
“Because Jesus died for me”, I said.
The immigration officer looked at me.
“Good answer”, he said. “You may enter”.
I smiled and entered the United States.
The significance of the conversation struck me as I walked to the baggage claim area. Only one question will be asked on Judgment Day: Why are you saved? The answer is found in 1 John 5:11-13, which says, “And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God” (NKJV).
Why are you saved? With the assurance of salvation, you can reply with confidence, “Because Jesus died for me”. In return, you will hear the sweet words, “Good answer. You may enter”.
Glenn Ernford Lie, 55, Is a teacher at Østmarka Seventh-Day Adventist School in Oslo, Norway, and a member and former youth pastor of Betal Seventh-Day Adventist Church, which received part of a 2017 Thirteenth Sabbath Offering to open a Youth Community Center.
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Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
What does it mean to be saved by grace?
Many go about saying that I am saved, but what does saving by grace means?
Does 'being saved' means I am going to heaven with Jesus to live forever?
Humans live by physical works, but can physical work save us? Can we work enough to please Jesus? Can physical work take us to live with Jesus? Does Jesus have a checklist?
Grace means unmerited favor, we cant work for favor from Jesus. The more we work cant influence Jesus that we are good people. Therefore he gave us grace and we must claim it through faith.
"There are those who profess to serve God, while they rely upon their own efforts to obey His law, to form a right character, and secure salvation. Their hearts are not moved by any deep sense of the love of Christ, but they seek to perform the duties of the Christian life as that which God requires of them in order to gain heaven. Such religion is worth nothing."
In time past the Jews boasted in physical circumcision to please God. It must be done on the 8th day (not 7th or 9th), remember Paul also said he was circumcised on the 8th day. They rejected any gentile coming to Jesus who refused to be circumcised. They relied on outward works.
Another work was fasting- going about with long faces and letting the world know they were fasting.
Circumcision of the heart- to rend (tear) one's heart.
"The object of the fast which God calls upon us to keep is not to afflict the body for the sin of the soul, but to aid us in perceiving the grievous character of sin, in humbling the heart before God and receiving His pardoning grace. Joel 2:13. {MB 87.2}
Let us cont to surrender self, as Christ bids us partake of his abandon saving grace.
"It is not the length of time we labor but our willingness and fidelity in the work that makes it acceptable to God. In all our services a full surrender of self is demanded. The smallest duty done in sincerity and self-forgetfulness is more pleasing to God than the greatest work when marred with self-seeking. He looks to see how much of the spirit of Christ we cherish, and how much of the likeness of Christ our work reveals." {COL 402.3}
SDA Church hymnal-
Hymn # 108 Amazing Grace.
# 109 Marvelous Grace.
These hymns among others had kept me throughout my life.
Where will we spend eternity? the question asked, no answer found!!!